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Trucking Career Provides Inspiration for Poem, Children’s Book

1/6/2013 2:00:00 AM

By Megan Roltgen

Brian Carlson may have been born in Canada, but he has certainly learned what it means to live the American Dream. He spent 22 years hauling loads across Canada and the U.S. but one fateful load brought him to Sturgeon Bay in 2002. Then hunger brought him to Greystone Castle where he met Jenny, who became his wife a few months later.

With all of those years on the road, Carlson had a lot of time to think – and dream – but he wanted to turn those dreams into reality. Last July, he sat down at his computer and wrote a poem and titled it “What Matters Most”. A couple of weeks after he shared it with a few people, Hilltop Records in Hollywood sent him a letter.

Carlson says the song should be finished by April. “What Matters Most” is a heartfelt reminder that America is a land of opportunity.

All of this happened as Carlson was writing a Children’s book, “So Long Old Hat”. It tells the story of Carlson’s trusty baseball cap that rarely left his head for 11 years of his trucking career.